Street View adds parks, shows off NYC’s High Line and Japan’s public drinkers

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Google Street View has unwittingly caught bunches of public drinkers from spring 2011 in Tokyo’s Koganei Park, as the park was added to a new Street View feature that gives users tours of major world parks.

In the park, the photography was done during the spring cherry blossom season, which is generally around April or May. During the season, the Japanese hightail it to the country’s many public parks and throw parties for hanami – literally, “watching flowers” – in celebration of the blossoms’ beauty. Hanami is also synonymous with drinking for many, so plenty of the Tokyoites pictured above are indulging in adult beverages on their blankets and tarps. Drinking in public is perfectly legal in Japan, provided you’re of age.

Privacy concerns surround Street View worldwide, but an especially strong Japanese preference for privacy ensures that faces captured by the cameras are blurred.

Google has used its ‘Street View Trike,’ a tricycle mounted with 360-degree cameras that’s more agile than the famous Street View cars, to photograph parks and tourist landmarks in 22 countries around the world. The official Google blog post celebrating the release highlights Koganei alongside the new High Line urban park in New York City and the Kensington Gardens in London. Check out the video below to see a preview of what the High Line park looks like on Street View, and how it could help you plan a visit there.

Two more parks in Denmark and Spain join the aforementioned three as a collection in Google’s Maps Gallery called Parks of the World. Other collections include local businesses, UNESCO World Heritage sites, and even the Amazon river by boat.